Bobby Bank/WireImage.comApparently, you don't mess with the guy who claims to have originally come up with the idea for your movie.
The author of a 2003 webzine, 2005 comic book and 2007 novel all titled The Hair-Raising Adventures of Jayms Blonde has launched a legal salvo against Adam Sandler, seeking to halt the June 6 release of Don't Mess With the Zohan, E! News has learned.
Ellis J. Pailet, a Louisiana attorney who represents author Robert W. Cabell, sent a cease and desist letter earlier this month to the comedian's camp, accusing Team Sandler of ripping off his client's ideas and threatening a full-blown lawsuit.
Sandler's publicist, Cindi Guagenti, declined to discuss the claims or potential litigation.
"We don't comment on lawsuits, especially ones without merit," she said.
For his part, Pailet notes in the May 8 letter several supposed similarities between Cabell's gay crusader action hero, who fights bad guys with his "trademarked Uzi blow-dryer, bulletproof mousse and hair-curler hand-grenades," and Sandler's Israeli Mossad agent, who fakes his death to leave the spy biz to cut hair in New York.
"Your transformation of our client’s gay character into your heterosexual character is not a fair use," the letter reads. "Like the Blonde logo, the Zohan logo used to promote your movie depicts your character pointing a blow-dryer as if it were a weapon."
Pailet theorizes that Sandler and costar Rob Schneider may have pilfered the character because they were among "Cabell's first 100 MySpace friends in 2005 when the Blonde MySpace.com website was created."
"Your image unfairly competes with Blonde and your continued use would subject our client to legal liability and further damage to his intellectual property rights," the letter continues. "This is patently unfair."
According to Steve Herlocker, a rep for the author, Pailet and a legal counsel for Sandler's Happy Madison Productions are in talks about a possible settlement. However, he said his client wouldn't be afraid to file a lawsuit to stop Zohan from opening should negotiations fail to resolve the matter in a timely manner.
And if the legal option falls through, may we suggest blow-dryers at 20 paces.